Cabinet Office

Conduct Guidance for Northern Ireland Election on 2 March

Lord Young of Cookham: As is normal ahead of an election, guidance has today been issued for civil servants in UK Government departments and those working in arms length bodies, on the principles that they should observe in relation to the conduct of Government business in the run up to the forthcoming elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly on 2 March 2017.The guidance sets out the need to maintain the political impartiality of the Civil Service and the need to ensure that public resources are not used for party political purposes during this period.The period of sensitivity begins with immediate effect.Copies of the guidance have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses and on the Cabinet Office website at Gov.uk.